NYers: State debt is $3,116 per person

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017, talks to reporters in Middletown in advance of the House vote to overhaul the tax code and end state and local tax deductions.
Joseph Spector, Albany Bureau

New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli speaks in 2014 during the annual meeting of the Business Council of New York State at the Sagamore Resort in Bolton Landing, N.Y.(Photo: AP Photo/Mike Groll)

At the end of the fiscal year March 31, the state-funded debt is expected to reach $63.7 billion — or about $8 billion a year. That ranks second only to California, the report said.

DiNapoli said New York's debt load — which is used to pay for infrastructure upgrades, economic development and regional projects — could hit $72 billion within four years.

He said that could strain the state's ability to pay for programs and services.

Morris Peters, a spokesman for the state Budget Division, questioned DiNapoli's findings, saying DiNapoli used a different standard than the state to measure the debt that inflates the total.

DiNapoli said his office creates its own state-funded debt calculation to provide a more comprehensive view of the state's liabilities, such as bonds issue to pay for State University of New York dormitories.

Peters, though, said, "This report does not adhere to generally accepted accounting principles and includes debt that is not recognized as the responsibility of the State on OSC’s own financial statements.”

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